Why did this little gem get preferential treatment? The title alone tells me what I wish we were doing on a daily basis around here. It’s fine to skip the paper towels and embrace cloth diapers, but what do all those things mean to my kids if they don’t have an intimate relationship with the world outside their door?

The rain has been relentless lately and we don’t seem to take the time to slip on our boots and brave the weather. We could save a stranded earthworm or find a budding pussy willow or perhaps slosh through a dozen puddles.(more…)

For many expectant families the new The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ban on the manufacture of drop side cribs won’t be an issue. It’s easy to pick out a non-drop side crib and there are several eco-friendly option including the DaVinci Kalani Convertible Baby Crib or the DaVinci Richmond 4-in-1 Crib each of which go for just under $250.
Still, what about those of us who bought used cribs, or are still using drop side cribs that we bought for our first child? In The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, we suggest that families consider buying a used crib if it’s in excellent condition. Is that advice suddenly outdated? Should we all turn our cribs into sweet pea trellises and invest in another piece of furniture? What about cribs that we’re done using? Are they safe enough to be passed on to another family?(more…)

During all nine months of my first pregnancy, our home was littered with books instructing me on how to gracefully cruise into motherhood. Many of them simply freaked me out while others seemed utterly unrealistic.

None urged me to trust myself, buy less stuff, use cloth diapers and opt for used gear–all of which we emphasize in our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. In fact, back in 2006 I could not find a single book on green pregnancy or parenting! That was part of the reason Rebecca and I were so inspired to write The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. During the months that we wrote and re-wrote the text, green baby books started to pop onto the market, but none of them had the frugal emphasis that was essential to our eco-friendly message. We were also surprised to see that none of the green baby guides had an in-depth section about cloth diaper usage and we were careful to dedicate two detailed chapters to cloth diapering, although we could have filled an entire book with our cloth diaper wisdom. (If you don’t already know, we are rather ardent cloth diaper fans who strike up conversations with total strangers about Fuzzibunz and flushable diaper liners.)(more…)

What happens to all those plastic tubs and bottles you keep throwing in the recycling bin? If they’re lucky, they get reincarnated as Green Toys. I’ve seen Green Toys for sale in baby boutiques and Whole Foods, and my daughter is the proud owner of the Green Toys Tea Set ($20). They’re thick, brightly colored recycled plastic toys that come in recyclable cardboard packaging.
While you can’t beat secondhand toys for eco-friendliness, Green Toys come in handy when you need a new toy for a gift or special occasion. They also seem more accessible and mainstream than wooden toys, which may not go over so well in some circles. They’re also reasonably priced! Check it out:(more…)

What if your OB/Gyn was a mother of three who actually invented things to make women’s lives easier as they journeyed through the rough landscape of early motherhood? The bad news is that most of you won’t be able to become patients of Dr. Somi Javiad—she’s busy enough as it is! The great news is that she, along with her business partner, Kim Howell, have founded a website and product line to support new and expectant mothers. Mamadoc was developed by Howell and Javiad to offer practical, eco-friendly pregnancy products to women that can make pregnancy and new motherhood a bit more comfortable.

Some of Mamadoc‘s clever inventions include Nox, a compression bra to help nursing mothers with engorgement when weaning, Preghoseto help pregnant moms prevent swollen feet,(I could have used a dozen pairs of those!) and Bellyupto support a pregnant woman’s back and abdomen during the late months of pregnancy.(more…)

There are a lot of eco-friendly dishwashing detergents out there—but how do they work? It can be frustrating experimenting with so-called green products, only to spend extra money on products that don’t function nearly as well as their toxic counterparts. Believe me—I struggled through all of this during my liquid dish soap search.

It’s been a while since we’ve discussed chlorine-free disposable diapers on this site and in our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. With my diapering days well behind me, I haven’t been able to try any of these out on a real-life baby. Has anyone had a chance to compare the brands below? Which do you prefer, and why?

Am I leaving out a great brand of chlorine free disposables? I know Whole Foods makes a store brand that ends up being more cost effective than Seventh Generation. What else do we need to know in this complicated world of greener sposies?

After I posted Sulfate-free Shampoos: Do They Work?, everything fell apart. My hair, exhausted from moving from one sulfate-free shampoo to another, gave up. It was limper and greasier after washing it than before washing it and felt coated with a sticky film of wax. It was if I’d doused my hair in a mixture of oil and glue. Because it had so much product build-up on it, it took over ten minutes of drying with a hair dryer—and still didn’t feel dry. (In better days, my hair would dry completely after three minutes.)One of the many “natural” shampoos I tried

This is when green living gets me down. Regular old shampoo always worked just fine for me. It would take over a year to get though one bottle. Once I decided to switch to paraben-free, sulfate-free shampoo, however, I started going through a bottle every six weeks or so. The sulfate-free shampoos all worked for a few weeks, but then my hair started revolting, necessitating a switch.(more…)

What isIndiebound, you ask? It’s a great way to support local bookshops without having to haul yourself away from your keyboard. Simply search for any book through Indiebound, and it will be shipped to you directly from your closest independent bookstore.

What is The Eco-nomical Baby Guide? It’s our entertaining and educational treatise on eco-friendly, budget friendly living with a baby in tow. In fact, our frugal, green lifestyles helped each of us save over five thousand dollars on each of our babies’ first year, while staying true to our environmental ideals. There’s hilarious humor, there are tips from the cloth diapering trenches, and there are hundreds of ways to keep the waves of plastic blinky toys at bay. In fact, it’s pure, practical genius! (Of course, we may be biased…)(more…)

As a new mom or a pregnant woman, I didn’t always feel particularly romantic on February 14th. But I did appreciate any efforts to make me feel loved and appreciated.

My husband, who is a fantastically thoughtful fellow, took me out for Valentine’s Day sushi while I was pregnant with my son. I had been experiencing deep and vivid sushi cravings and enjoyed the food so much that I actually asked him to stop talking so I could chew in silence with my eyes shut. It was so rude–but the sushi was divine! That kind of patience and grace is really the stuff of true love.(more…)